Follow CNN Pressroom via Email

CNN Programs Continue Ratings Gains vs. a Year Ago; While Every FXNC and MSNBC Weekday Program is Down

“Crossfire” is Up +11% in Total Viewers and +17% in Demo Rating; “New Day” is also Up Compared to CNN Programming a Year Ago

“Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown” Ranks #1 in Cable News in Demo Rating and is Up Triple-Digits in Both Total Viewers and Demo 25-54

CNN Mobile Video Up 10x; Politics Section Posts Best Month of the Year

In spite of October’s highly partisan news cycle, all CNN weekday programs were up this month vs. a year ago; while every FXNC and MSNBC weekday program was down. This month, Fox News Channel’s program line-up declined each weekday hour by double-digits vs. a year ago among the 25-54 demo rating. MSNBC posted the largest 25-54 rating declines in cable news vs. a year ago every weekday hour from 8:00a – 10:00p (with the exception of 7p).

Year-to-date, CNN ranks as the #2 cable news network in total day (6a-6a) in both total viewers (434k) and in the demo 25-54 rating (140k).

For the month of October — all CNN weekday programming from New Day, to Crossfire and throughout primetime grew vs. a year ago, highlights include:

New Day (6-9a): For the month, New Day is the only cable news morning program showing growth vs. a year ago in both total viewers (up +15%) and 25-54 demo rating (+2%). Both Fox and Friends and Morning Joe are registering double-digit declines among 25-54 (-22%/-24%, respectively).

CNN Newsroom (9a-4p): Ranked #2, topping MSNBC in both total viewers (570k vs. 455k) and in the demo (148k vs. 101k). CNN daytime also saw double-digit growth vs. last year (+36% in total viewers/+20% in key demo rating); while MSNBC daytime is down -13%/-36% and FXNC daytime is off -16%/-24%.

The Lead with Jake Tapper (4p): Posted double digit growth this month – increasing +33% in total viewers and +34% in demo 25-54 rating. FXNC and MSNBC are both down in total viewers (-11%/-16%) and both lost significant viewers in the demo rating with FXNC down -25% and MSNBC off -38%. The Lead also ranked #2 in the demo 25-54 at 4 pm.

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer: Ranked #2 in the demo at 5p, topping The Ed Show (196k vs. 171k) and growing in both total viewers (+35%) and in the demo (+45%) compared to last year. The Ed Show is down -25% among total viewers and -39% in the demo rating while The Five is off -6% and -19%, respectively. The Sit Room at 5p was CNN’s top-rated weekday program among total viewers (716k). At 6p, Blitzer’s show also ranked #2 in the demo 25-54 and is up double-digits in both demos, while the competition is down double-digits in both demos.

Crossfire (6:30pm): Crossfire is the only cable news program during this time period to grow (compared to FXNC and MSNBC) — increasing +11% in total viewers and up +17% in the demo rating compared to CNN programming a year ago. FXNC lost -28% of its 25-54 demo audience and MSNBC is down -39% vs. a year ago. And among total viewers, FXNC is off -18% and MSNBC is down -23%.

Erin Burnett Outfront (7p): Is the only program in the time period to grow vs. last year, increasing +15% among total viewers (573k vs. 500k) and +13% in demo 25-54 (186k vs. 165k). FXNC is down -21% in total viewers and -36% among 25-54 and MSNBC’s Hardball is off -3% in total viewers and down -27% in the demo rating.

AC 360 (8p):Is registering the largest growth vs. a year ago of CNN’s weekday primetime line-up (up +27% in total viewers and +19% among demo rating) and was the network’s top-rated weekday program in demo 25-54 (211k). FXNC and MSNBC continued to register notable declines at 8p, with O’Reilly Factor down -28% in total viewers and -41% in younger viewers 25-54 while MSNBC’s All in Chris Hayes was off 33%/46% compared to a year ago. AC 360 Later (10p) was up +6% in total viewers (528k vs. 497k) and up +5% (180k vs. 172k) in the demo vs. a year ago.

Piers Morgan Live (9p): The show also saw increases vs. last year – growing +10% in total viewers (638k vs. 578k) and +6% in the demo rating (186k vs. 176k). Both MSNBC and FXNC lost a substantial amount of viewers at 9p with The Rachel Maddow Show down -32% in total viewers and -49% in the demo rating and FXNC 9p programming off -32%/-44%, respectively.

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown on Sundays at 9p ranked #1 among cable news in its time period with 327k among 25-54 viewers — far ahead of FXNC’s Justice with Judge Jeanine/Stossel Special (110k) and MSNBC’s Docs (127k). The show posted triple-digit growth over a year ago among both total viewers (+114%, 722k vs. 337k) and demo rating (+289%, 327k vs. 84k).

Last October cable news viewing was elevated due to 2012 presidential election coverage which included the four Presidential Commission Debates. As a result, all three cable news networks were down in the overall primetime (8-11p) and total day (6a-6a) dayparts vs. a year ago.

MSNBC continued to get a ratings bounce from the network’s doc series MSNBC Investigates and MSNBC Specials this month. Without these series, (Lock Up, Caught on Camera, Undercover, To Catch a Predator, Predator Raw) MSNBC slips to #3 in total day in the key demo (dropping from 145k to 134k).

CNN Digital

In October 2013, CNN’s domestic mobile website posted 339 million page views (up 36% from October 2012) and 5 million video starts (10 times more than October 2012). CNN has clocked year-over-year gains in mobile web page views for 16 consecutive months and in mobile video starts for the past 13 months.

Source: Bango Analytics for Mobile Web from August 2012 through July 2013, Adobe Reports & Analytics for Mobile Web August 2013 forward, October 2013 data includes through October 27, 2013.

With four days remaining in October 2013, CNNPolitics.com reached 95 million page views — up 90% over the previous month. Earning 14 million page views on October 3rd, the section had its highest day of the year. CNN Politics ranked #1 in the Politics category for the week of Oct.6 with 11.5 million unique visitors, beating HuffPost Politics by 43% and NBCNews.com Politics by 54%.